The head of the EC brought 180 billion. They will go to better offices and health care, Babiš said
“We plan to compile it so that everyone can benefit from it,” Babiš said after a meeting with the head of the European Commission.
“The last year and a half was a huge user for all of us, for which it was not possible to prepare. We are not expecting vaccinations yet. It is still a long-distance run, the economic recovery will be even longer, “said the Prime Minister. He expressed joy at the approved plan of renewal. “This is a large amount of money that will be invested in the gradual restart of the economy after the coup and the improvement of the quality of life of our citizens,” he added.
“It will bring, for example, better communication with the authorities, electronic healthcare, quality and safe rail travel, support for digital skills in schools or the modernization of social services,” said the Prime Minister. According to him, a considerable part of the money will go to healthcare, for example for oncological prevention and care.
Entrepreneurs, start-ups, the cultural and creative sectors will also be supported, Babiš noted. “Municipalities and cities should welcome investments in faster internet connections, brownfields, adaptation to climate change, nature protection, reforestation after the bark beetle calamity,” he said.
“We are preparing our society to be more resilient, to be able to cope with future health challenges that may arise,” says the head of the European Commission. “This is exactly the recovery that both Europe and the Czechia need,” we must.
Von der Leyen described that the Czech plan envisages and further steps to protect the climate, such as the creation of charging stations for electric vehicles, investments in renewable energy sources or infrastructure for waste recycling. At the same time, she expressed her joy that the Czechia wants to invest in healthcare, its electronization and also in oncological care.
Approved recovery plan
On Monday, the European Commission approved the Czech national recovery plan, which will open the way for the Czech Republic to 180 billion crowns in subsidies from the European Union’s emergency crisis fund. The first funds could come to Prague in September, if the Czech investment strategy is finally approved by the member states.
However, the fund, for which the EU has taken out an unprecedented joint loan in the financial markets, is intended to help countries recover their economies from a coronavirus pandemic or better prepare them for a smaller recurrence. According to Brussels, the Czechia has met the fundamental requirements, according to which the country must request 37 percent of its share in the fund to allocate to projects designed to protect the climate, and a fifth to digitize the economy. According to the commission’s assessment, the Czech government combined 42 percent of the fund’s resources with the first instrument, and 22 percent with the second.
According to the commission, the plan includes investments in energy from renewable sources, modernization of district heating distribution networks, replacement of coal-fired boilers and improvement of energy efficiency of buildings. It also includes measures for nature protection and water management, as well as investment in sustainable mobility. According to the EC’s assessment, additional money will go to digital infrastructure, digitalization of healthcare, justice and building authorities.
Condition: Conflicts of interest must be ruled out
However, in order for the Czechia to receive its full share of the fund, the Czech authorities will have to comply with the criteria set for protecting EU money from conflicts of interest in the coming months, according to the commission.
Conclusion of the Commission’s audit: Babiš has a conflict of interest, Agrofert is not entitled to subsidies |
In this year’s published audit, the EU executive concluded that the authorities were not resolving a systemic problem with the conflict of interests of Prime Minister Babiš. According to the auditors, it still controls the Agrofert holding, even though it has invested it in trust funds. The Commission therefore does not intend to pay subsidies from the Structural Funds to companies in this group. Babiš himself claims that he has no conflict of interest and that he abides by Czech law.
“I can only say that European money and the money of European taxpayers are distributed transparently in the Czech Republic,” Babiš responded on Monday. “From the moment I joined the government and now I am the Prime Minister, I do not feel that we have a systemic problem,” he added.
State Secretary for European Affairs Milena Hrdinková said that during the negotiations the Czech Republic undertook to effectively control the drawing from the fund. The control mechanisms will have to be set up by the middle of next year. “I expect that the methodology will be very similar to that already used by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Regional Development,” he said, referring to current grant programs. According to Hrdinková, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and its department, which will be responsible for coordinating the drawing of the recovery plan, will have to set up all the processes necessary to control the drawing of money. |
Von der Leyen described that recommendations are set for each country in the Member States. “The Czech plan also has these key points, which eliminate conflicts of interest and strengthen transparency and audit functions,” he says. “There is a requirement to provide and collect information about the people behind the entities that receive funding. These milestones must be met before the first large sum is paid in mid-2022, “added the head of the commission.
“The European Commission will check that the funds are spent wisely. We also have the tools to protect the budget, because it is primarily about taxpayers’ money in the European Union, “we provide von der Leyen.
The Recovery and Resilience Fund, which contains over 700 billion euros (more than 18 billion crowns), is separate from the Structural Funds, but EU rules also stipulate that Member States must rule out corruption or conflicts of interest in the management of public money. In accordance with the rules, the Czechia will receive 13 percent of the total 180 billion crowns under pre-financing based on the approved plan, but will have to present compliance with the above requirements until the next amount is paid.
Babiš handed over to the head of the Commission a plan for the use of money from the reconstruction fund |
“We will not pay if this problem is not resolved, and we will also recover the money from pre-financing,” one of the EU officials told reporters, according to which the Czech authorities should reconcile the latest with the commission’s requirements by the middle of next year. Contributions can be drawn by countries until 2026.
During the negotiations on the plan with the Czech authorities, the Commission was not completely satisfied with meeting the requirement that investments from the fund cannot “significantly damage the environment”, for example in construction waste or the use of dirty energy, according to EU officials. According to them, the Czechia finally undertook to guarantee this measure in the rules of tenders for contracts financed from the fund.
Opposition: Now Babiš’s conflict of interest will not be resolved
Opposition parties doubt that under the current government it is possible to have a conflict of interest of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, which is conditional on the payment of a full 180 billion crowns in subsidies from the European Union’s emergency crisis fund. On the social networks of the leaders of the opposition subjects, they stated that there are October elections in the parliamentary parliament, in which we have to replace Babiš at the head of the government.
“180 billion crowns for Czech citizens, companies and our country. We will get so much from Europe as part of the National Recovery Plans, provided that the Czech authorities prevent Prime Minister Babiš from diverting money for his companies again, “said Pirate Chairman Ivan Bartoš on Twitter. “It is difficult to imagine under the current government. It’s crazy, “he added.
The Together Coalition wrote on Twitter that Babiš’s conflict of interest threatens the future of the Czech Republic. “We can solve this together in the autumn,” she said of the parliamentary elections.
According to the head of TOP 09, Markéta Pekarová Adamová, the European Commission approved the Czech national recovery plan only by grace. “He met only the basic requirements and is not well thought out. However, what is necessary at all, the payment of money is conditional on the EU contributing to the conflict of interests of the Prime Minister. Ministries are constantly defending it. Andrej Babiš therefore threatens to pay 180 billion crowns, “he states.
KSČM chairman Vojtěch Filip talks about the EU fund as a Danish gift. “It simply came to our notice then. And the conditions, but it’s more of a mess. It is an expression of another loss of state sovereignty, “Filip wrote to ČTK.
The head of the SPD, Tomio Okamura, wrote to ČTK that the Czechia does not receive any money from the union, but will receive debts. “The fund is created on the basis of EU bonds, which the Czech Republic guarantees. And we are repaying around 36 billion a year for this loan by 2058, while at the same time guaranteeing the debts of economically failing Italy and Spain because of the EU. Czech laws apply in the Czech Republic and are decided by the Czech authorities, “he said.